Aerocool Xpredator II

[testman78]

Introduction

Aerocool is very well-known for offering some amazing budget friendly cases that offer great functionality and performance. Choosing a new case, either for a complete new build or just to upgrade your current build can be quite the daunting task. Cases come in all sorts of colours, sizes and can have loads of different features that you may or may not need.Today we are going to take a look at another new case from Aerocool, the Xpredator II.AeroCool Xpredator 2 is available in black or white colors.As you can see from the specifications below, the Xpredator II is pretty well equipped. It has room for an E-ATX/XL-ATX motherboard,ten expansion slots, a good amount of storage bays, room for extra long graphics cards and even more space if you remove the hard drive bays. There?s also five good quality 140mm pre-installed, one in the back,two at the top and two more in the front.



There is no denying this case definitely has a nice look to it, so before we take a look at the technical specifications.




Packaging & Contents

The Aerocool Xpredator II arrived inside a plain cardboard box that has a large product drawing at the front along with the company logo.Ten product icons are used at the Bottom right part to showcase interior and exterior product features.



Some of the product specifications are printed on the left and right.



Foam spacers with a cardboard shell as reinforcement hold the fairly heavy chassis in place, protecting it from falling damage, while a plastic bag keeps fingerprints and light scratches away.



The bundle includes some cable ties,screws,standoffs and the user manual.




Exterior

As we unveil the case we see a pure black case, the face and top panels are plastic in a sleek design with off black contours that says nothing more than style seeking appreciation.



The Xpredator II is made of steel and black painted ABS. You find these materials on the inside as well as on the outside.Regarding cooling, the Xpredator II provides ventilation slots on almost every side of the case.



The left side panel of the Xpredator II features a huge crystal clear panel that gives a great view of the chassis interior, so a clean-looking build will be important.



The other side panel is rather plain as we would expect.



There is plenty going on at the front.



There are three 5.25″ drive bays that feature front removable covers and a large air intake at the bottom.



The front panel connections can be found at the front of the case on the top edge.We find two USB 3.0 ports,four USB 2.0 ports,HD audio jacks, as well as dual three-speed fan controllers.



On/off power and Rest buttons are located at sides.



The top panel is nicely equipped with a hot-swap SATA bay on the top.



The top of the XPredator II case has a unique design to it.The fins on the top can actually be opened or closed a little bit by using the switch.



Opening up the fins should allow for a bit more ventilation and airflow when needed during those long gaming sessions we all like to enjoy when we can.



Around the back we find that there are four rubber grommets at the top, a pre-installed 140mm exhaust fan,ten expansion slots,and finally a bottom mounted PSU cut-out.



There is also an unpopulated vent area.



Turning the case over we see that it sits on four rather tall feet and has one removable air-filter placed beneath two perforated areas.The four large rubber feet give good clearance and stability to the chassis.



There is a pull-out fan filter at the bottom of the case.



Sadly this is the only fan filter on this area.




Interior

With the side panel removed we see that the chassis interior features the same black paint job as the exterior, giving a nice uniformed look, this is even more important given how clear the side panel window is.



As mentioned this case is compatible with quite a few motherboards and if you are curious as to where to install the motherboard risers there is a guide right on the motherboard tray to help you out and get you on your way.



Taking the second side panel off the case we can see how the rest of the case is set up.



The motherboard back plate features a good size CPU cooler mounting cut-out.



There are quite a few cables for the front panel floating around and that is due to the chassis featuring six USB ports, a HDD bay and two fan controllers on the front panel.



Thanks to the design of the case there's plenty of room behind the mainboard tray of the Xpredator II for cable management(28mm).



You'll spot thick rubber grommets on all holes on the motherboard plate.



The 5.25" optical bays feature tool-free locking mechanisms.



Aerocool has placed two drive cages inside the Xpredator II(top has room for five disk drives,bottom has has room for three disk drives).



Both ones can be removed to allow for installation of the longest graphics cards around.



These trays support 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch hard drives.



With cages removed we can see the included 140 mm red LED fans.



The drive trays are also tool-free so you just have to remove the brackets from the sides, mount the drive and then place them back in(2.5" Disks need screws for installation).



The front of the case easily pops off by pulling from the bottom.



The front panel can be removed to reveal the dual 140mm fans and the cover also features a filter(not removable).



To the lower left we see the PSU area, ATX PSUs up to 190 mm deep when using the bottom fan location.When not using this fan location longer PSUs (up to 345 mm deep) can be used. I have yet to find a PSU that long though?



The base has two perforated areas, one for the fan of the power supply unit and one for a 120/140mm fan.



You can see there are small lifts to help with airflow under the power supply.



The top of the chassis has a pair of 140mm fan pre-installed, but they can easily be removed for more ambitious cooling like a 240mm or 280mm radiator. There is also a good offset to the motherboard, easily allowing for a radiator and fan not to block off the motherboard.




Installation & Finished looks

Usually I use this area to quickly place hardware components inside a case to showcase what you can expect in terms of interior space.The first thing we are going to install is our motherboard.



The power supply sides in from the center of the case and easy mounts. Just secure it with four screws and you are good to go.



Hard drives are next. As I mentioned each of the hard drive mounts / trays are removable. So just take them out of the system and install your drives.



2.5-inch installation requires 4 screws.



I had not problem getting our graphics card installed. You actually have room for graphics cards up to 465 mm(Without HDD Cage)!



The cable routing hole for the graphics card is perfectly placed for the PCI-Express power connectors.You must secure graphics card with the hand screws



You can also see I was able to install my monster Thermalright Macho RT CPU cooler easily because of the large CPU cutout.



Now it is time to route all of our cables and connect everything. This worked out quite well and there are a ton of tie-downs and rubber holes for the included cable ties and cables.All in all we were able to build a very clean build.



When you do power on your system the front fans will light up red.




Test System & Methology


Processor: Intel i7 4770K @ 4.2GHz (1.1v)
CPU Cooling: Thermaltake NiC C4
Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Series 16GB 2400MHz
Video Card: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 770 Reference Model
PSU: Thermaltake Smart 750W
Hard Drive: OCZ Vector 120GB SSD
Optical Drive: DVD-ROM
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit SP2





Software:

CPUID HW Monitor 1.23
CPUID CPU-Z 1.65
Prime95 v27.1
Furmark 1.11.0

I am testing the Aerocool Xpredator II performance as follows:

Room temperature is kept at 22C throughout my tests.
The CPU Fan is set to 100% to eliminate inconsistencies as a result of PWM control.
Idle temperatures are obtained after booting the PC and idling on the desktop for 30 minutes.
CPU load temperatures are obtained after running Prime95′s Small FTTs test for 15 minutes.
GPU load temperatures are obtained after running Furmark's Burn-In Test for 15 minutes.


Temperature

The Aerocool Xpredator II preformed great in all three categories.Overall I am pleased with the temps using what came with the chassis.




Conclusion

The Aerocool Xpredator II is definitely a monstrosity of a case but does come from a more ‘budget gamer’ orientated company dampen its performance or overall functionality? Let’s see what my final thoughts are.When it comes to design,Aerocool have done a good job and whether or not the outside aesthetics of the case are to your liking there is no denying the inside was thought out and executed nicely. The outside of the case definitely follows that sort of ‘gamer’ look but the inclusion of some of the features help bring it all together and make it a great functional case.Weighing in at just under 14kg, the Xpredator’s bold but sleek design makes it stand out. The materials, design and build quality are excellent and apparent that a lot of thought went into the design and features that enthusiasts demand.AeroCool Xpredator II suitable for boards of format E-ATX, XL-ATX, ATX, Micro ATX and Mini ITX, allows you to use the top graphics card length 46.5 cm, 17-cm CPU coolers and power supplies up to 22cm in length. You can install up to eight 3.5’ or 2.5’ form factor. There are five preset ventilators in the lower part has space for additional cooler, and the cooling water system 240 or 280 mm can be positioned on the top panel.The top of the Xpredator II chassis has a few hidden gems, which become more present after the initial glance. It not only contains all the I/O buttons, but an assortment of other features like a HDD hot swap bay, fan controllers, and hidden USB and audio ports.The inside is laid out very well, there is plenty enough room to install anything you may need inside without it getting cramped and the cable management system is on point and will make sure to leave your build looking clean when all is said and done. Let us also not forget the ample room and features to accommodate water cooling gear.Taking into note the performance aspect of the Aerocool Xpredator II and it had overall good results. The inclusion of the five 140mm fans was a nice touch and should allow for a good amount of airflow to get through the case.On a positive note, the large window gave us a full view of all our components when installed in the case and gave a slight red glow from the installed red LED fans installed during the build.If I had one gripe that it would be to see more removable dust filters.



Targeted to high-end enthusiasts with XL-ATX motherboards and four dual-slot video cards, the Xpredator II from Aerocool is a huge case, with 10 expansion slots.If you are looking for a full tower case, which is allows you to build powerful gaming systems, then the Xpredator II from Aerocool is definitely worth having a look at. All in all the Aerocool Xpredator II is an amazing offering for a company best known for budget gaming cases and if you are in the market for a case in its price range which is around 135 euro, you will not be disappointed.